Empower Them to Lead (Lance Turner Editor’s Note)

Group of wind turbines at a wind farm on a hill with cattle grazing beneath, creating renewable energy in Taralga NSW Australia.

It’s hard to unplug from work, even on vacation. But I’m proud to say that, for the most part, I remained blissfully unaware of most of the news during my family’s weeklong road trip out West, to Arches National Park in Moab and Park City, Utah. Long hours in the family truckster — we took Interstate 40 out and then parts of I-80 and I-70 on the way back — helped.

It was a reminder that it’s good to get out of the office and out of your work whenever possible. One key to accomplishing that: training and empowering your staff to manage without you. I’m pretty lucky in that regard — the Arkansas Business team is packed with experienced players who know the drill. They don’t really need me at all, and that feels great.

If your staff isn’t quite there yet, I encourage you to prioritize whatever training it takes to get to that point. Time away from the office allows you to rest, recharge and get inspired for what’s next. It’s hard to do that when your staff can’t manage in your absence. But having one that can is priceless to your peace of mind. And as a bonus, your team, empowered to lead, will benefit professionally.

At work and on the road, so much of life is flying by fast. A wise man once said that if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

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I say that I unplugged, but something work-related was lurking in my subconscious because solar and green energy — the topic of last week’s Arkansas Business issue — was very much on my mind during that week off, drawing my attention to the dozens of wind farms and solar fields we passed out West.

Arkansas’ role in the wind industry has waxed and waned. At the Little Rock Port, LM Wind Power once produced wind blades for windmills. In Jonesboro, Nordex once made turbines that transformed wind into electric power.

Those manufacturing efforts are long gone, but Arkansas still benefits from the wind energy tucked into the portfolios of its major utilities — Entergy Arkansas Inc. and the electric co-ops. Now, as Marty Cook reported last week, Arkansas might get its first wind farm — the $300 million Nimbus Wind Farm in Carroll County — assuming plans by Scout Clean Energy of Boulder, Colorado, come to fruition. 

Arkansas isn’t a wind producer like Kansas, Oklahoma or Colorado, but Scout thinks this particular northwest Arkansas site could be one among more than 50 it has in development across 24 states. The Nimbus Wind Farm could bring a little of the West closer to home.

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Many thanks to Mitch Bettis, Arkansas Business Publishing Group’s owner and president — and my boss — for writing in this space while I was on vacation last week. 

Like Mitch, I’m looking forward to the Top 100 Women of Impact project that, through a partnership between our sister publication, Little Rock Soirée, and the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas, will celebrate some of the state’s top women leaders. While nominations have closed, you can look for more news on that project in the coming weeks.

Lance Turner is the editor of Arkansas Business.